Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashes in Ukraine near Russian border, killing all on board

Boeing 777 of Malaysian Airlines crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border, Interfax reports. On board the aircraft, there were 280 passengers. All of them were killed in the crash, Interior Minister Counsellor of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko said. 15 crew members were killed as well.

The aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, about 50 kilometers before entering the airspace of the Russian Federation, began to descend. The aircraft was subsequently found burning on the ground in Ukraine.

The Malaysian Airlines jetliner crashed some 80 kilometers from Donetsk, near the village of Snezhnoye.

Ukrainian security officials confirmed the crash of the Malaysian Boeing, Vladislav Seleznev, an official representative for the special operation said. "There is such information. Boeing 777 en route Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur "crashed to the north of Torez, the Donetsk region. The plane was flying in the international corridor," RIA Novosti said.

Noteworthy, on July 8, Ukrainian mass media reported that the State Aviation Service of Ukraine closed airspace in the south-east because of the special operation. In this case, civil aircraft could not fly over dangerous area. However, on the website of Flightradar, it can be seen that the signal with the aircraft was lost above the south-east of Ukraine.

Shortly before the reports of the Malaysian jetliner, eyewitnesses said that there was an aircraft of Ukrainian Air Force downed over the town of Torez, the Donetsk region. "At around 16:00 local time, an An-26 was flying over the city. We saw a missile hitting the plane, then there was an explosion, and the plane went to the ground, leaving a black smoke behind. Some debris started falling from the ground," local residents said.

Representatives of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk stated that they had nothing to do with the air disaster.

There are reports saying that the Boeing 777 was downed with a missile. Representatives of self-defense forces of the breakaway republics stated that they had no such weapons at their disposal. The plane was reportedly downed at the height of ten kilometers. The MANPADS that the militia have are capable of striking targets at the maximum height of 3,000 meters.

As a result of the crash of the Boeing 777, 295 people were killed.

UPDATE: The eyewitnesses, who could see the crash of the airliner, say that it was a fighter jet of the Ukrainian Air Force that downed the plane. As a result of the attack, the aircraft split into two and crashed on the territory of the breakaway Donetsk region, the press service of the People's Republic of Luhansk said.